RADIO COMMISSIONING FRAMEWORK Commissioning Brief Commissioning Brief No: 47056 Round 4, 2018/19 Production of BBC Radio 4’s BOOK AT BEDTIME from April 2018 to March 2019 with option to renew for up to two additional years CONTENTS SECTION A: EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITY 3 1. KEY FACTS 3 2. THE STATION AND THE PROGRAMME 5 3. EDITORIAL REQUIREMENTS 8 SECTION B: THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS 10 1. TIMETABLE 10 2. THE FOUR STAGES 11 3. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA 13 4. THE EVALUATION TEAM 14 SECTION C: FULL PROPOSALS 15 1. WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU 15 2. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM US 17 3. IMPORTANT POINTS TO NOTE 19 SECTION D: COMMISSION AWARD 20 1. NOTIFICATION 20 2. KEY CONTRACT TERMS 20 3. DUE DILIGENCE 20 4. MODIFICATIONS 20 5. ACCEPTANCE AND REJECTION OF COMMISSIONING BRIEFS 20 6. COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH OFFERING A PROPOSAL 20 7. PUBLICITY 20 8. USE OF BBC LOGO 20 9. INDUCEMENT 20 10. TRANSITION 20 SECTION E: KEY CONTRACT TERMS 21 1. PRE-CONDITIONS 21 2. FINANCE 21 3. CONTRACT RIGHTS AND REVENUE 21 4. PRODUCTION 21 5. DELIVERABLES 21 6. TERMINATION AND TAKEOVER 21 APPENDIX 1: ELIGIBILITY QUESTIONNAIRE 23 APPENDIX 2: ABOUT THE BBC 26 APPENDIX 3: BBC RADIO VISION & OBJECTIVES 27 APPENDIX 4: EXAMPLE OF A NON DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT 28 APPENDIX 5: BOOK AT BEDTIME TITLES IN 2016-17 34 2 of 34 SECTION A: EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITY 1 KEY FACTS Commissioning brief no. 47056: Book at Bedtime Commissioning contact Sharon Terry ([email protected]) Duration 14’ including continuity announcements Number of programmes available Approx. 250 April 2018 - March 2019 Contract period with an option to renew for up to two additional years £2180 Radio 4 will not pay more than the guide Guide price per episode price for this programme. Proposals below the guide must be based on a demonstrably realistic production plan. Commissioning Slot Monday to Friday 22:45 Commissioning Round Radio 4 2018-2019 Round 4 3 of 34 Please note … This commissioning process differs from the last time we commissioned Book at Bedtime. During Stage 1 of the process we will first evaluate your response to the Eligibility Questionnaire (see Appendix 1). The questions may differ from those used in other Radio 4 briefs. All answers should be entered into the ‘Add/Edit Notes Here’ section in Proteus. The answer to part 4 of the questionnaire should be no longer than 150 words. Eligibility Questionnaires must be submitted via Proteus by 12 noon on Thursday 14 September 2017. Suppliers who meet the eligibility requirements will be invited to submit a Full Proposal in up to six A4 sides of size 11 font. (We will not read beyond six sides.) When completing your Full Proposal, you should bear in mind: Editorial Requirements in Section A.3 Assessment Criteria in Section B.3 What We Need From You in Section C.1 As part of your Full Proposal we require an example of your Book at Bedtime or comparable productions. Submit your audio as an MP3 using an online file- sharing service to [email protected] and also send an email confirmation of delivery to [email protected]. Full Proposals must be submitted via Proteus by 12 noon on 19 October 2017. We strongly advise you to submit your Full Proposals in good time to avoid the possibility of difficulties caused by unforeseen network or transmission problems. No late submissions will be accepted. This process does not include a pitching meeting. 4 of 34 2 THE STATION AND THE PROGRAMME About Radio 4 Radio 4 is unique in the breadth and quality of its informative, educational and entertaining programming. Every day, on air and online, Radio 4 has more original content than any other broadcaster in the world. Its authoritative news and current affairs journalism is complemented by programmes exploring many areas, including science, arts, history, religion, ideas, drama and comedy, offered through regular strands, one-off programmes and special seasons. While the average age of its 11 million plus audience is 56, the station needs to evolve and to attract a younger generation of ‘replenisher’ listeners. It also seeks to build its appeal to audiences beyond the south east of England and among ethnic minorities. You can read the latest Radio 4 RAJAR report here. Specific audience packs relating to this brief will be available here in August. About Book at Bedtime Radio 4 invites tenders to contribute to the production of Book at Bedtime. The strand runs for five nights per week, approximately 52 weeks per year. Most titles run over ten episodes, quite a few over five, very occasionally over fifteen. We expect to commission a number of suppliers to each deliver a number of weeks within the twelve month period from April 2018. Depending on performance and on budgetary considerations, our intention is to extend these contracts for two additional years. We anticipate that the number of weeks in respective contracts will range from around five weeks upwards. What makes a Book at Bedtime? Book at Bedtime showcases the best contemporary and classic fiction, mostly (but not exclusively) novels offering listeners a real treat at the end of their day. Consider the timing of the slot - will the book play out well at 22.45? While we want the Book at Bedtime to be ambitious, to be editorially bold and exciting, please be aware of the slot title, the audience, the time of day it goes out and what kind of listening experience our audience want. Jane Austen plays better than Dostoyevsky, Nina Stibbe plays better than Joseph Conrad – which doesn’t mean that we won’t do the difficult book (The Underground Railroad & Knausgaard’s My Struggle were both brilliant), but by and large we do want the Book at Bedtime to be a good listen. Does it have a driving story and the right structure to allow it to successfully play out over 5 or 10 episodes? Birdsong is a wonderful book, but all the time shifts make it a challenge for an audience to follow the central narrative over 10 nights. Golding’s Rites of Passage may have been a masterpiece, but it was hardly story-driven. 5 of 34 A high percentage of titles will be broadcast on or around publication – these will be novels by well-established writers and by newbies, or publishing events. Paula Hawkins’ Into the Water (the highest selling hard back fiction book on publication) may not be shortlisted for the Man Booker, but it was the most eagerly awaited title of the spring. Of course we should run with it. We are delighted with The Ministry of Utmost Happiness – not an easy book, but this summer’s biggest title. We are doing Philip Pullman’s eagerly awaited The Book of Dust on publication. We like big titles, we like making noise. But it doesn’t need to be hot off the press. We successfully ran with the The Essex Serpent a year after publication. The Book at Bedtime should ideally have a relationship with the rest of the schedule, for example with our seasons and special events. Some of the highlights of the slot – Knausgaard’s My Struggle, Ishiguro’s Never Let me Go, Agnes Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal, Robert Seethaller’s A Whole Life & Rosemary’s Baby – have been part of Reading Europe, Dangerous Visions and Fright Night. Popular fiction is good! We want crowd pleasers as well as literary fiction. We are sure that Rachel Joyce’s The Music Shop will be a delight, Nina Stibbe’s Paradise Lodge came off the page beautifully, Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds was a real treat. We don’t want the Book at Bedtime to be the repository of obscure newly published novels the audience have never heard of by writers whom they haven’t read. If we do run with unknown titles we will probably need a context – as we have done with Reading Europe. Be bold, think creatively. From time to time the Book at Bedtime should break out of the norm and do something unexpected. For example: o Rosemary’s Baby read by Kim Cattrall ran as a single 120’ reading on a Saturday night. This is a stunt. We like the occasional stunt. o In the run up to last Christmas we commissioned five utterly delightful short stories from Alexander McCall Smith for Book at Bedtime. o We have a specially commissioned Book at Bedtime from Ian Rankin for the autumn. o The Fright Night reading this year will be The Omen. Listener beware. o We have embarked on reading all of the John Updike Rabbit novels and plan to do all of Adrian Mole over the next couple of years. We want the occasional classic – Persuasion was a treat. We are keen to continue with Reading Europe – it has been a really successful way of giving a context to contemporary European fiction. We want to be more eclectic and wide ranging in our choices, less driven by the agenda of the publishing world, and have a bit more showbiz in the slot. We are keen on the books you are passionate about – we want our Book at Bedtime producers to not only be knowledgeable about what is coming up in the publishing world, but we want producers who are passionate about books, and we will want to run with your passions. 6 of 34 Previously in Book at Bedtime: please refer to Appendix 5 for Book at Bedtime titles in 2016-17. 7 of 34 3 EDITORIAL REQUIREMENTS In submitting your Full Proposal you should bear in mind the Assessment Criteria in Section B.3 and the further requirements detailed in Section C.1.